A route-by-route guide to DFDS crossings from the UK and Ireland – Dover to Calais, Newcastle to Amsterdam and four more; and which suits your drive.
Choosing a ferry is really choosing a drive. A short crossing with a long motorway slog at the far end can take more out of you than a longer sailing that puts you where you want to be. DFDS runs a spread of routes from the UK and Ireland that solve quite different versions of that problem.
Most people default to Dover to Calais because it is the shortest and most frequent, and for a lot of journeys that is correct. But if you live in the north, are heading for the Dordogne rather than Belgium, or are driving from Ireland, one of the other crossings will almost certainly suit you better. Here is how they compare.
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The short Channel workhorse, the overnight from the north, and the quieter alternative to Calais.
DFDS’s shortest and busiest crossing, at roughly 100 minutes. High frequency throughout the day makes it the flexible default for most Channel journeys, and both ports sit on major motorways.
An overnight North Sea cruise-ferry between northern England and the Netherlands, operated by King Seaways and Princess Seaways with cabins ranging from standard inside berths up to the Commodore grades.
Roughly two hours from Dover, landing at a terminal built around motorway access rather than a town centre. Often the calmer option at busy times.
Every option side by side, with the one thing that actually distinguishes it.
| Route | Best for | Type | Key strength | Watch out for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Dover to Calais | Most Channel trips | Short sea crossing | Fast and very frequent | Peak-time port queues | View |
| 2Newcastle to Amsterdam | Northern departures | Overnight crossing | Sleep through the distance | Cabin cost and winter seas | View |
| 3Dover to Dunkirk | Eastbound drives | Short sea crossing | Quieter port, fast exit | Less frequent than Calais | View |
| 4Newhaven to Dieppe | Normandy and beyond | Mid-length crossing | Much shorter drive in France | Few sailings per day | View |
| 5Rosslare to Dunkirk | Irish departures | Long sea crossing | Direct to France, no UK transit | Few sailings and a long drive to port | View |
| 6Channel Islands routes to Jersey | Jersey trips | Island crossing | Take your own car to the island | Seasonal, variable schedules | View |
← swipe the table to see all columns →
Three reasons the ferry still beats the alternatives for a driving holiday.
No baggage allowance, no weight limit worth worrying about, no repacking at the airport. Bikes on the roof, a boot full of wine on the way back, the dog in the car, a ferry treats your vehicle as the unit of travel rather than charging you for every item in it. For a family holiday that difference is substantial.
On a short Channel sailing you get out of the car, have a coffee and stretch your legs. On an overnight North Sea crossing you get a cabin and wake up in another country having covered the distance asleep. Either way the time is usable, which is more than can be said for an airport.
The short Channel routes run frequently throughout the day, so a late start is an inconvenience rather than a disaster, and changing a sailing is generally straightforward. Arriving at the port is also a far shorter process than an airport, with no security theatre to budget for.
How to pick the right crossing and book it sensibly.
This is the single most useful habit. Add the drive at the far end to the crossing time before you compare routes. Dover to Calais is quick, but if you are heading for Normandy or the Loire, Newhaven to Dieppe lands you much closer and removes hours of French motorway. If you are going to the Netherlands or northern Germany from northern England, the Amsterdam crossing can be the whole journey rather than the start of it.
On the Newcastle to Amsterdam route the cabin is not an extra, it is the point. Cabins sell out, and the better ones, the Commodore grades with a mini bar, breakfast and lounge access: go first, with the top grade only available on one of the two ships. Decide what you want, check which vessel operates your date, and book early. Reclining in a seat on an overnight North Sea sailing is a false economy.
Fares rise as sailings fill, and school holidays and summer Fridays go first, so early booking is straightforwardly cheaper. Equally, check where the terminal actually is. Some continental ports sit outside the town they are named after, which is usually good news for motorway access but worth knowing before you set the satnav. Build in the port’s check-in deadline too, it is earlier than most people assume.
A standard DFDS crossing fare covers the vehicle and its occupants up to the stated limits, which is why ferries compare so well with flying for families. There is no per-bag charge and no weight check on what is in the car.
Cabins, reserved lounges, premium seating, pet spaces and meals are generally priced separately, and availability of each varies by route and vessel. Taking a pet requires booking its space in advance and meeting the current entry requirements for the country you are travelling to, which are your responsibility rather than the operator’s.
The short Channel crossings are rarely an endurance test, but the North Sea and the longer Channel routes can be lively in winter. If anyone in the party is prone to seasickness, the shorter the crossing the better, and an overnight sailing with a cabin is usually more comfortable than hours in a seat.
Weather disruption does happen, more often on the longer routes and in winter. Build slack into the far side of the crossing rather than booking a hotel you must reach that evening, and check the operator’s updates before setting off in rough conditions.
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The combination of a short crossing and a very frequent timetable makes this the route that forgives a late start.
This is the crossing most people picture when they think of a Channel ferry, and it earns the position. DFDS describes it as its most popular route and the sea time is around 100 minutes, which is barely long enough to finish a meal. The real advantage is frequency: sailings run throughout the day, so a traffic delay on the M20 is an inconvenience rather than a ruined holiday, and changing to an earlier or later departure is usually straightforward. Both ports connect directly to major motorways, so the transition from British to French driving is about as painless as it gets.
The downsides are the ones that come with popularity. Dover and Calais are busy, and at peak times, summer Fridays, half terms, bank holiday weekends, queues at check-in and border control can add substantially to the journey, occasionally more than the crossing itself takes. Arrive with a proper margin over the stated check-in deadline on those dates. The short sea time also means there is not much scope to rest; you are back in the car almost as soon as you have settled. And if your destination is in western or southern France, the drive from Calais is long enough that another route may well beat it overall.
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From the north of England this is not the start of the journey — it is most of the journey, done while asleep.
For anyone in the north of England, Scotland or the Midlands, this route changes the arithmetic completely. Instead of driving the length of the country to reach Dover and then driving again on the far side, you board in Newcastle in the evening and wake near Amsterdam. DFDS presents it as the main crossing from the north of the UK to the Continent and runs it with two cruise ferries, King Seaways and Princess Seaways, which carry restaurants, bars and entertainment rather than just seats. Cabin grades run from standard inside berths up to Commodore and, on King Seaways only, Commodore De Luxe with a mini bar, hot buffet breakfast, steward service and a private lounge.
You must budget for a cabin, which makes this a more expensive crossing than a short Channel hop, but it replaces a hotel and most of a day’s driving, so compare it against the whole journey rather than against the ferry fare alone. Cabins sell out, the best grades first, and the top grade is restricted to one of the two ships, so check which vessel operates your date before building plans around it. The North Sea can be rough in winter, and the Dutch terminal is not in central Amsterdam, so allow for the transfer or the drive if the city is your destination.
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Half an hour more at sea often buys back more than that in time not spent queueing.
Dunkirk is the thinking driver’s alternative to Calais. The crossing takes about two hours rather than 100 minutes, but the terminal is a purpose-built port with direct motorway access and it handles far less foot and coach traffic than Calais, so the whole process of getting off the ship and onto the road tends to be quicker and less fraught. At peak times, summer weekends in particular – that difference can more than repay the extra half hour at sea. For journeys heading east into Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany, the geography is also marginally in Dunkirk’s favour.
It runs less frequently than Calais, which is the main practical drawback: there is less scope to slide onto an earlier or later sailing if your drive to Dover goes wrong, so the timetable needs more respect. The terminal’s location away from the town is an advantage for motorway access and a disadvantage if you wanted to stop for lunch in Dunkirk itself, which is a short drive away rather than on the doorstep. And if your destination is south or west in France, Calais’s slight head start and much higher frequency usually win out.
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If you are heading for Normandy, the Loire or beyond, Dieppe starts your holiday hours earlier than Calais does.
This is the crossing that makes sense when you look at the whole journey rather than the sea time. Five hours is far longer than the Dover routes, but you land at Dieppe in Normandy, already well south and west of Calais, which can remove two or three hours of French motorway from a trip to the Loire, Brittany or the Dordogne. For travellers in Sussex, Hampshire and the South West it also avoids the drive around the M25 to Dover, which on a Friday is reason enough on its own. The longer sailing is restful – long enough to eat properly and read a book, which breaks up a driving day rather than merely interrupting it.
The timetable is the constraint. There are far fewer sailings than on the short Channel routes, so the crossing dictates the shape of your day rather than fitting around it, and a missed departure is a serious problem rather than an irritation. Five hours in the Channel in winter can also be a long time if the weather is unkind. Newhaven is a small port with limited facilities compared with Dover, and Dieppe likewise, so plan your meals and fuel around that rather than expecting a full service area at either end.
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For Irish drivers, going direct to France removes two extra crossings and a drive across Britain.
For drivers in Ireland this route solves a specific and expensive problem. The alternative is a crossing to Wales, a long drive across Britain, and a second crossing from Dover – three legs, two sets of port procedures and a day largely spent driving through a country you did not intend to visit. Going direct from Rosslare to Dunkirk collapses that into a single sailing, which for a family with a loaded car is both simpler and often better value once you count the fuel, the second ferry and the overnight stop you would otherwise need. Landing at Dunkirk puts you on the motorway network for Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and eastern France.
It is a long crossing, considerably longer than anything on the Channel, so you need to treat it as a day of travel in its own right and consider cabin accommodation depending on the sailing. Frequency is limited compared with the short routes, so the timetable has to be worked around rather than treated as flexible, and a missed sailing is costly. Rosslare is also a long drive from much of Ireland, particularly the west and north, which eats into the advantage. Weather disruption on a long Atlantic-influenced crossing is a real possibility, so leave slack on the far side.
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Taking your own car to Jersey turns a short break into something closer to a touring holiday.
Jersey is small enough that people assume hiring a car on arrival is the only sensible option, and these crossings are the argument against that. DFDS sails from Portsmouth and Poole on the English south coast and from St Malo in Brittany, with return services in each direction, so you can bring your own vehicle, your own bikes and as much luggage as it holds. The St Malo link also makes a appealing combination trip possible – Brittany and Jersey on one holiday, with the island as a stop rather than the whole destination.
This is a seasonal and schedule-driven operation rather than a turn-up-and-go service, so the timetable needs checking carefully for your dates and frequency varies through the year. Jersey’s roads are narrow and parking in St Helier is tight, so a large vehicle is more of a liability on the island than it would be on the mainland – for a short city-based break, flying and hiring something small may be easier. The Channel can also be unsettled on these routes, and Jersey has its own customs and immigration arrangements, so check current requirements before you travel.
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Dover to Calais, at around 100 minutes, is the shortest DFDS crossing and the most frequent. Dover to Dunkirk takes roughly two hours.
Quickest at sea is not always quickest overall, though; the drive at the far end often decides which route gets you there sooner.
Yes, in practice. It is an overnight sailing and a cabin is how you make the journey restful rather than endured. Cabins range from standard inside berths up to the Commodore grades, and the best ones sell out well in advance.
On most routes yes, but the arrangements differ, some sailings have pet-friendly cabins, others require the animal to remain in the vehicle or in kennels. Book the pet space in advance and check the current pet travel requirements for your destination, as these are the traveller’s responsibility.
Not for passengers. DFDS runs Baltic crossings such as Kiel to Klaipeda and Karlshamn to Klaipeda, but UK travellers heading to Scandinavia need to cross to mainland Europe first and drive or connect from there.
As early as you reasonably can. Fares rise as sailings fill and the popular dates, school holidays, summer weekends, bank holidays; go first. For an overnight crossing where you want a specific cabin grade, early booking is close to essential.
The cheapest ferry is not always the cheapest journey. Add the driving at the far end, factor in whether you would rather sleep through the distance or be across in under two hours, and book early enough to get the sailing and cabin you want.
Check price Routes, schedules, vessels and onboard facilities change seasonally. Confirm current sailings and terms on DFDS before booking.
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